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ESPN's Brandt Says MRSA Handling Could Affect Free Agency

With the ongoing NFLPA investigation into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers handling of three cases of confirmed MRSA infections within the organization, former Green Bay Packers Vice President Andrew Brandt gave some insight on how the Packers handled the same case when he was with the organization.

“We quarantined him” said Brandt who now serves as ESPN’s NFL business analyst. “We put him in a hotel room on a separate wing of the hotel, and didn’t let him out for a period of a couple of days. That was determined to be the contagious period.”

To address the situation here in Tampa, the Buccaneers have brought in an outside expert after kicker Lawrence Tynes and guard Carl Nicks were previously diagnosed with the infectious disease. Rookie cornerback Jonathan Banks contracted the disease and was cleared to play in this past week’s match up with the Philadelphia Eagles. Brandt says it’s a little harsh to say that something is happening with the Buccaneers that doesn’t happen with another team. Brandt does believe though that the recent MRSA issues could affect the team in free agency in the coming off season.

“It’s hard to say individually if sometime next March a free agent is deciding between Tampa and two or three other teams and that is thrown in his mind as a negative” said Brandt. “Obviously that will be a tangible result of this, but generally I think people are wondering what’s going on there beyond MRSA.”

Brandt said he believes the NFLPA is ‘taking up residence’ in Tampa Bay because of the handling of the MRSA cases and the new NFLPA/NFL investigation into the leaks of Josh Freeman’s medical information.